CISCE Brings Physical Education Into Board Assessment

For generations of students, physical education has often been the subject that gets pushed aside when textbooks, tuition and board examinations take centre stage. That equation is about to change for students under the Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations (CISCE). From the 2028 ICSE and ISC examinations, Health and Physical Education will become a compulsory internal assessment component, bringing fitness, sport, health and well-being into the formal assessment system.

The change will begin with the 2026–27 academic session. Students entering Classes IX and XI this year will be the first affected batch. Students appearing for the 2027 ICSE and ISC examinations will see no change in their existing assessment curriculum.

This will not be another written board paper. Schools will assess students throughout the academic year. The assessment will cover three areas: physical health and fitness, participation in games and sports, and health, safety and well-being.

The ISC framework provides a 100-mark internal assessment. The distribution of marks is explained, further. While ACTIVE CISCE’s Physical Health and Fitness Assessment carries 50 marks, games and sports account for 25 marks. Health, safety and well-being on the other hand make up the remaining 25. The marks will be recorded through the school’s internal assessment process.

The approach is not designed simply to reward students who are naturally athletic. CISCE’s guidelines specifically emphasise effort, participation and individual progress, rather than comparison with classmates or sporting excellence alone. Schools can maintain participation records or portfolios to document students’ involvement during the session.

The definition of well-being is also much wider than playing a sport. The framework includes areas such as physical fitness, active living, nutrition, mental and emotional well-being, yoga and mindfulness, safety, first aid, emergency preparedness, inclusion, leadership and digital well-being.

Students could also be assessed through practical activities and projects. These may include health and safety audits, nutrition-related work, fitness plans, awareness campaigns, first-aid or CPR demonstrations and emergency-preparedness exercises. The focus is on applying knowledge rather than simply reproducing it in an examination.

CISCE has also built inclusivity into the framework. Schools are expected to provide reasonable accommodation for students with disabilities, medical conditions and other specific needs. Alternate assessment strategies for students with special needs are to be provided separately.

The move builds on ACTIVE CISCE, the council’s physical health and fitness programme. The programme provides schools with a structured system to assess and monitor students’ physical health and fitness. Its portal records the fitness component directly, rather than leaving schools to award those marks manually.

The policy reflects the broader emphasis of the National Education Policy 2020 and the National Curriculum Framework for School Education 2023 on holistic development. CISCE says the new assessment recognises healthy and active lifestyles, sports participation, health awareness and student well-being as part of education.

The timing is significant. Students beginning Classes IX and XI in 2026 will now spend their school years knowing that participation, fitness and health awareness will form a part of their formal academic assessment in 2028. Physical education is no longer just a break from studies. Under the new CISCE framework, how students move, participate, stay healthy, react during health emergencies and care for their well-being will also be taken into account.